Sudan's NCP should accept that SPLM is aiming for separation and that most of the southern people want separation

(Khartoum) - While the two partners in the Government of National Unity, the SPLM and NCP, are engaged in intensive meetings in Khartoum, a prominent political analyst says that he is not optimistic that the two partners will agree over their differences.

The NCP deputy chairman and the presidential adviser, Doctor Nafie Ali Nafie, announced on Saturday that the two partners have agreed to stop the war of words and come out with an agreement within 48 hours.

Professor Al-Tayib Zain Al-Abidin is a lecturer of political sciences at Khartoum University. He spoke to Sudan Radio Service from Khartoum on Tuesday.

[Al-Tayib]: “I think these meetings suggest more optimism than is merited. The differences between the two partners have been there for months, but the two parties have realized after some international pressure, that there is no other choice except to reach an agreement over their differences. But that doesn’t mean their differences will not continue, and that new differences might appear, especially when the election time gets closer, and different alliances appear. Will the SPLM stand separately, or will it ally itself with the NCP or the northern opposition?”

Asked whether the two parties will reach a solution on the issues which divides them, Zain Al-Abidin continued:

[Al-Tayib]: “There is no solution, unless the partners reach an agreement which will not happen unless the two parties compromise on certain issues. The main compromise is that the NCP should accept that SPLM is aiming for separation, and that most of the southern people want separation. So there is no need for obstruction by using desperate measures and introducing ineffective laws. At the same time, the SPLM should not interfere in the north’s affairs. Southern Kordofan is a northern state and there is no doubt about it, and so is Blue Nile state. So trying to pretend that popular consultation is the same as self-determination is a terrible mistake and will not be accepted by any northern government.”

The SPLM and the NCP reached a deadlock over key issues in the CPA, a situation that led to the SPLM boycotting some parliamentary sessions.

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